The Extraordinary Miss Flower: On the red carpet with Emiliana Torrini, Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard, Kate Coyne, Niall Murphy and Viva Seifert at London Film Festival 2024

A box of handwritten love letters detailing the life of Geraldine Flower is the subject of interest in Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s latest feature. The duo responsible for the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth once again put their music hats on for this psychedelic journey that’s part documentary, part musical, exploring and performing the songs written by Emiliana Torrini based on the letters accumulated by Flower. The Extraordinary Miss Flower has a cast of amazing creatives, from actress Caroline Catz, dancer Kate Coyne, musician and former gymnast Viva Seifert, and of course, Torrini herself, all of them taking part in the performance of it all. The feature dissects letters as a lost art form and the journey of writing songs based on another person’s story.

The Upcoming caught up with Torrini to discuss what it was about the letters that truly inspired her to write the album, letters as a form of communication, and songwriting as an art form in a world obsessed with technology and quick virality.

We also spoke with the directors Forsyth and Pollard to talk about Flower’s letters and Torrini’s songwriting and how the combination of the two drew them into wanting to be part of telling this particular story, the honour of having the daughter Zoe Flower’s support throughout the entire project, and inspiring up and coming musicians with their songwriting through the journey of the film.

Finally, we caught up with some of the actors involved, Coyne, Niall Murphy and Seifert, to chat about what drew them to the project, their experience working with Forsyth and Pollard as the directors, and artistry and experimentation in music and songwriting.

Mae Trumata

The Extraordinary Miss Flower does not yet have a UK release date.

Read more reviews from our London Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the London Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for The Extraordinary Miss Flower here: